Bombarding of Bastia in 1745

The Bombardment of Bastia in 1745 records the British naval attack on the Corsican port during the War of the Austrian Succession, an operation that attempted to deny France the use of this strategic Mediterranean harbor. Scott's naval battle paintings served both as artistic works and as visual records of British naval power, commissioned by officers and naval administrators who wanted their actions commemorated. Samuel Scott occupied the commanding position in British marine and topographical painting for three decades, filling the gap left by the death of the van de Veldes and not finally superseded until the emergence of Nicholas Pocock and J.M.W. Turner.

The battle scene deploys ships in the clear, schematic arrangement typical of Georgian naval painting, where the priority was legible documentation of fleet positions over atmospheric drama.